Press Herald quotes Dill in article about drought’s effect on ticks, Lyme cases
Jim Dill, a pest management specialist at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, spoke with the Portland Press Herald for the article, “Upside to drought: Fewer deer ticks and fewer cases of Lyme disease.” Maine had reported 232 Lyme cases through June 30 this year, compared to the five-year average of 267 through the same period, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Scientists at Maine Medical Center Research Institute in Scarborough and the University of Maine Cooperative Extension said far fewer deer ticks are being collected in field surveys this year, during a parched, hot summer, the article states. “The dry summer has seemed to put a real dent in the tick population,” Dill said. He added that UMaine Extension’s Tick ID Lab, where Maine residents can send deer ticks for testing, has seen about one-third fewer deer ticks brought in during 2016 compared to 2015. Dill added scientists trapping rodents in southern Maine have found fewer deer ticks than expected on mice, voles, squirrels and chipmunks.